Improvement in machinery for making shoe-laces



' 2 Sheets-- Sheet 1.

w. E. SMITH. Machinery for Making Shoe-Laces. N0.l53,l24.

Patented July 14, 1874.

T15 GRAPH"! CD. PHOYO-LXTHJSJ4-I PARK LAC 6 2 Sheets-- Shee,t 2L

v w. E. SMITH. Machinery for Making Sh'oe N0.l53,|24

Laces.

Patented July 14,1874.

TWEWZZIMV A Wiliwsws I THE GHAPHIC CO. PHOTO1LlTH-39& 4-! PARK PLAOLNA'.

UNITED STATES PATENT QFFICE.

IVILLIAM E. SMITH, OF ANSONIA, CONNECTICUT.

IMPROVEMENT IN MACHINERY FOR MAKING SHOE-LACES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 153,124, dated July 14, 1874 application filed May 15,1874.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM E. SMITH, of Ansonia, in the county of New Haven and State of Connecticut, have invented certain Improvements in Machines for Making Shoe and other Metal Tipped Laces, of which the following is a specification:

My invention consists in the novel construction and combinations of a series of carriers for a skein of cord from which a number of laces are to be made, a feeding device for the metal of which the tips are to be formed, and which is applied to the skein before it is cut up into laces, and a'pair of dies for cutting the metal, and forming and attaching it to the lace to form the tips, and a pair of shears for cutting the tips after they are formed, whereby a skein or hank of cord may be tipped and made into finished shoe or other laces by one and the same machine.

The process of manufacturing laces by this machine differs very materially from that of making them by other machines. A skein is first made with its coils of a circumference equal to the desired length of a lace. Each coil then has lapped around it a piece of metal of a size and form to make two tips, and is afterward cut through the middle of this piece, so that it makes a lace tagged at each end. This process differs mainly from the old pro cess in making the laces directly from the skein, instead of from a longitudinally-ted cord, and it permits the use of a simpler and more compact machine for putting on the tags, besides enabling the entire operation of tipping and cutting off to be done in one machine.

In the accompanying drawing, Figure 1 is a front elevation of my improved machine. Fig. 2 is a top view, partly in section. Fig. 3 is a side elevation. Fig. 4 is a central vertical longitudinal section. Fig. 5 is atransverse vertical section taken in the line 00 00 of Fig. 2. Fig. 6 is a detail view hereinafterreferred to.

A represents the main frame or stand, which supports the working parts, which stand may rest upon, or be attached to, a table or bench. Extending upward from the frame or stand are two standards, 13 B, in the upper part of which is journaled the main shaft C,

which maybe provided with a crank, if the machine is to be worked by hand, or with a driving-pulley, if it is to be driven by steam or other power. On the end of the shaft C opposite the crank or driving-pulley is a crank, c, which is connected, by a rod, 0*, with one arm of an elbow-lever or rock-shaft, D, having its fulcrum or bearing at the rear end of the frame, and its other end connected, byarod or pitman, d, with a plate, B, through which passes one end of a shaft, f, which has its bearin gs transversely in the frame A. To the inner side of the plate E is pivoted a springpawl, 9 which engages with a ratchet, G, attached to the shaft f, and to the side of the frame A is pivoted another spring pawl, 9 which also engages with the ratchet G.

V hen the shaft C revolves an intermittent rotary motion is imparted to the shaft f by the engagement, with the ratchet G, of the pawl g on the plate E, to which an oscillatin g motion is imparted through the rods 0 (1 and shaft or lever D, the pawl g on the frame A engaging with the ratchet G, to prevent its backward motion when the pawl recedes to engage with the ratchet to move it forward.

To the ends of the shaft f two disks or solid wheels, H H, are attached, so as to revolve with said shaft, and form carriers for the cord. These wheels have curved or are shaped depressions h formed in their peripheries; and each wheel is provided with a band, 1, surroumling it after the manner of a tire. In the band I is a notch or depression, 1', opposite the center of each of the depressions h. Attached to the frame A are two bars, J J, one over each of the wheels H, and extending and fitting closely over the band I for about onehalf of its circumference, so as to cover a number of the depressions 2'. 0n the upper side of the stand or frame A is a block, L, with an inclined upper surface, in which is a groove or depression covered by a plate, I. Between the standards B, working in ways therein, is a sliding block, M, which has a nearly-vertical reciprocating motion imparted to it by a pitman, m, driven by a crank on the main shaft C. At the lower end of the sliding block Mis one of a pair of dies, 02 n for cutting OE and attaching themetal tip to thelacing. The dien is attached to theslidin g block M, an d the die n is attached to the stationary block L. To the die n is attached a punch, k, for indenting the metal before it is cut off. At the front end of the block M is arranged a pair of rollers, P 1, the upper roller, P being driven by gearing from the lower one, P to which an intermittent rotary motion is imparted by the engagement with a ratchet, r, of a pawl, 19, worked by a rod, 8 pivoted to one end of a lever, S, the other end of which is connected to a rod, 8 which has a reciprocating motion imparted to it by a cam, T, on the main shaft 0, as said shaft revolves. The upper roller, P is journaled in blocks t, over which pass hooked rods V, at the lower ends of which, below the frame A, are springs v and adj ustable collars e by which the pressure of the upper roller upon the lower one is regulated. (See"--Fig. 6.) To the bed-plate of the frame A is attached a fixed jaw, W and a movable jaw, ll, of a pair of shears, the movable jaw being pivoted in the frame, and having its lower arm elongated and curved backward, with a spring, w, bearing on it, so as to keep it disengaged from the fixed jaw. A bar, on", extends downward from the sliding block M, and bears against the lower arm of the pivoted jaw W so that, when the block M descends, the bar m closes the jaws of the shears. The cord of which the laces are to be made is wound into a skein of the length desired for the laces when completed, which skein is hung over a rail, Y, attached to the front end of the machine. The metal from which the tips are to be formed is inserted between the rollers P P ,-and into the groove or recess under the plate I. The operator takes the cord from the skein, one strand at a time, and passes it under the bars J until it engages with the notches or depressions i in the bands I, each strand being made to engage with one notch in each band. As the wheels or carriers H H revolve, the strands are carried around, so as to pass the dies n a just as they are coming together, by the descent of the block M and die n, which cuts oil a piece of metal from the strip and clamps it around the cord. As the wheels H continue their revolution, the cord is carried around until the metal passes between the jaws W when the rod on presses upon the long arm of jaw W so as to bring the jaws together and cut through the metal, thus forming a lacing with a metal tip at each end. As the revolution continues, the severed ends of the cord are carried around until they clear the lower ends 2 z of the bars J J, (see Figs. 3 and 4,) when they drop from the notches or depressions z, and fall upon the bench or table under the frame A. The metal from which the tips are formed is fed toward the dies n n by the rollers P P with an intermittent rotary motion, and the metal protrudes from the face of the die a just after the cord has passed that point, and just before the die 'n descends to cut the metal and clamp it around the cord. As the die n descends the punch passes through perforations in the plate I, and indents the metal for the tip which is to be cut by the next downward motion of the die n WVhat I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. A series of rotary carriers, H H, provided with depressions h in their peripheries, in combination with the feeding-rollers P P, substantially as described, for the purpose specified.

2. The combination of a series of rotary carriers, H H, having depressions h, with feed ing-rollers, and with dies for cutting, forming, and attaching the metal for the tip, substantially as described.

3. The combination of a series of rotary carriers, having depressions h h, and feeding rollers, with shears for cutting the tip and severing the ends of the lace, substantially as described.

4. The combination of the wheels H, formed with the depressions h, the bands I, formed with the notches i, and the elastic bars J, substantially as and for the purpose shown and described.

5. The process of manufacturing shoe or other metal-tipped laces directly from a skein, by applying the tip metal to the several coils of the skein, arranged to pass transversely to the die-forming and tip-cutting mechanism, substantially as herein described.

* WM. E. SMITH. Vvitnesses:

FURGUS KELLY, JAMES F. MoLLoY. 

